First Sorrow Pass War

In 1461, the Orchish Empire invaded Gimhak's southern holdings. Their objective was territorial expansion and revenge for what happened to them in the Arduous March (1041 - 1096). This was a forced migration that began at Tarkrath, the orcs (before they became the Githirmil) were harried and attacked by many. The Turkûn of Gathol proved the most dangerous. With heavy losses, the orcs eventually made it into Grashakh. Their leader Blac'drugulois vowed to one day punish those that had made their journey so much more difficult.

In the First Sorrow Pass War, four centuries after the Arduous March, the advance of the Orchish Empire was this time made south. They crossed into a valley littered with ruins, a strategic bottleneck that links three regions, Hells Womb, Grashakh and the Lands of Purity. Sorrow Pass had seen many battles and wars, the First Sorrow Pass War would be the biggest in the area since the Demon Spawn War.

The orc armies were stopped when they reached the Gathol Hills. The defenders were entrenched behind miles of trenches, supported by tunnels linking 24 hill redoubts. The Fograth spent two years trying to break through to Strumpktar. They would take hills, only to lose them again when they moved towards another objective.

In 1463, the defenders went on the offensive after the Corps of the Apocalypse and the Grisagwer, both renown Orders of the Council of Bile, moved behind the Fograth army, threatening their lines of communication. Badly battered, the invaders retreated back through the Sorrow Pass.